What is Whey protein concentrate used for in food?

It is listed as a thickener, a flavour enhancer and a stabiliser — the role the US assigns it. This page shows every function each regulator records, with the citation for each.

Is Whey protein concentrate banned in Europe?

No. Whey protein concentrate does not appear on the EU's list of authorised food additives, which is not the same as being banned: the EU permits an additive only where it has authorised it, and usually the reason for an absence is that no one applied. The EU has made no finding against this substance. It does mean it may not be used as a food additive in the EU today.

Where is Whey protein concentrate permitted?

Of the seven regulators this site reads, the US permits it. Each permission is for named foods at named levels, not a blanket one; the table on this page gives them with citations.

Is Whey protein concentrate vegan?

No. Whey protein concentrate is animal-derived, though it is generally accepted as vegetarian. This page says what it is made from.

Whey protein concentrate

Listed as a thickener, a flavour enhancer and a stabiliser by the US.

Listed as thickeners (US) · flavour enhancers (US) · stabilisers (US) · nutrient supplements (US) · flavouring agents and adjuvants (US) · texturisers (US) · solvents and vehicles (US)

United States: Stabilizer or thickener — FDA, Substances Added to Food: WHEY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE
United States: Flavor enhancer — FDA, Substances Added to Food: WHEY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE
United States: Stabilizer or thickener — FDA, Substances Added to Food: WHEY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE
United States: Nutrient supplement — FDA, Substances Added to Food: WHEY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE
United States: Flavoring agent or adjuvant — FDA, Substances Added to Food: WHEY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE
United States: Texturizer — FDA, Substances Added to Food: WHEY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE
United States: Solvent or vehicle — FDA, Substances Added to Food: WHEY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE

Whey protein concentrate is the protein fraction of whey, used as a functional and nutritional protein in foods and sports products.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Whey protein concentrate by jurisdiction. Every jurisdiction this site covers is listed, including those where the substance does not appear.
Jurisdiction	Status	Citation
Australia and New ZealandFood Standards Australia New Zealand	No listed food uses foundThis site has not matched this substance to any food use on this jurisdiction’s list of authorised food additives. A food additive may be used only in foods that list names. Flavourings, enzymes, processing aids and added nutrients are regulated separately and do not appear on it.
CanadaHealth Canada	No listing matchedHealth Canada’s lists name additives without E or INS numbers, so this site matches them by exact name. A substance listed there under a name this site does not recognise has no row here.
European UnionEuropean Commission / EFSA	No listed food uses foundThis site has not matched this substance to any food use on this jurisdiction’s list of authorised food additives. A food additive may be used only in foods that list names. Flavourings, enzymes, processing aids and added nutrients are regulated separately and do not appear on it.
Great BritainFood Standards Agency / Food Standards Scotland	No listed food uses foundThis site has not matched this substance to any food use on this jurisdiction’s list of authorised food additives. A food additive may be used only in foods that list names. Flavourings, enzymes, processing aids and added nutrients are regulated separately and do not appear on it.
JapanConsumer Affairs Agency	No listing matchedThis site imports only Japan’s list of designated additives (Appended Table 1 to the Regulations for Enforcement of the Food Sanitation Act), matched by English name. Existing additives, natural flavouring agents and ordinary foods used as additives are permitted outside that list and are not imported, so an empty row does not show that Japan does not permit the substance.
South KoreaMinistry of Food and Drug Safety	No listing matchedThis site imports Part III of South Korea’s Standards and Specifications for Food Additives, matched by CAS number, then INS number, then exact name. Mixed preparations and sanitisers are not imported, and an entry whose identifiers disagreed with a page’s is held for review, so an empty row does not show that South Korea does not permit the substance.
United StatesFood and Drug Administration	Permitted	21 CFR 184.1979cretrieved 2026-10-17
Codex AlimentariusCodex Alimentarius Commission / JECFA	Not listedDoes not appear on this jurisdiction’s permitted list. That is not the same as being prohibited.

How much is permitted

A listing usually limits the quantity as well as the food. Only one of the forms that takes is a figure: quantum satis and good manufacturing practice permit the amount the technological effect requires and no more, which is a limit rather than the absence of one. Figures below are the range across every food category this page is listed in, and categories differ between regulators — see how much is permitted.

United States	—	1 no quantity stated

No regulator sets a figure for Whey protein concentrate. That is not an absence of control: where the listing says quantum satis or good manufacturing practice, the quantity is limited to what the effect requires.

What it is made from

Concentrated from cheese whey by membrane filtration, then dried.

Not vegan
Vegetarian
May raise a halal question
May raise a kosher question

Compare other additives on the dietary indexes.

Allergen labelling

From milk. Concentrated from whey.

The EU’s list of allergens an ingredients list must emphasise is Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II (consolidated text of 1 April 2025). Whether a product must declare one depends on what its additive was actually made from, which the label may not show; see the allergen origin index.

Every name it appears under

1 recorded name. A label may use any of them.

As it appears in regulation

Whey protein concentrate

Hazard reference values

No reference value for this substance in the sources we hold.

Evidence and how bodies read it

Studies, and the differing conclusions regulators drew from them, are curated rather than machine-read, and none has been written for this substance yet.

Common questions

Assembled from what is above, in the words the questions are usually asked in. Each answer is the same statement the relevant section makes, with the same citations behind it.

What is Whey protein concentrate?: Whey protein concentrate is the protein fraction of whey, used as a functional and nutritional protein in foods and sports products.
What is Whey protein concentrate used for in food?: It is listed as a thickener, a flavour enhancer and a stabiliser — the role the US assigns it. This page shows every function each regulator records, with the citation for each.
Is Whey protein concentrate banned in Europe?: No. Whey protein concentrate does not appear on the EU's list of authorised food additives, which is not the same as being banned: the EU permits an additive only where it has authorised it, and usually the reason for an absence is that no one applied. The EU has made no finding against this substance. It does mean it may not be used as a food additive in the EU today.
Where is Whey protein concentrate permitted?: Of the seven regulators this site reads, the US permits it. Each permission is for named foods at named levels, not a blanket one; the table on this page gives them with citations.
Is Whey protein concentrate vegan?: No. Whey protein concentrate is animal-derived, though it is generally accepted as vegetarian. This page says what it is made from.

Sources for this page

ecfr retrieved 2026-10-17

Full licence terms and publisher details on Sources. How this page is built and updated: Method.

Machine-readable: a JSON record of this additive is given on request —how to ask for access.

Follow changes to Whey protein concentrate:Atom feed — regulatory events, and any change the weekly refresh detects in its provisions.